1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to voice messaging systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing virtual messaging.
2. Description of the Related Art
To support a voice messaging (voice and/or video messaging) infrastructure, current messaging systems require a communications carrier that offers such a service to purchase and maintain substantial amounts of equipment. Each subscriber to the messaging service must establish a personal account in which voice messages are stored. The equipment includes a substantial number of call processing servers that support specific user accounts, store messages, retrieve messages, manage caller load, and so on. As more accounts are opened and messages stored, the number of servers and the amount of storage also must increase. The result is a cumbersome and expensive system to maintain.
Furthermore, conventional voicemail systems require subscribers to each have a designated “voice mailbox”. These mailboxes have a finite size and, after being “filled”, the subscriber can no longer receive voice messages and callers are told the mailbox is full. A voice mail service provider must incur substantial cost to maintain the mailboxes and a subscriber must be vigilant in either deleting voice messages or requesting (and paying for) additional mailbox storage space.
Therefore there is a need in the art for an improved voice messaging system.